Epson XP-820 review

This sleek little desktop printer does everything and does it well

Our Verdict

The Epson XP-820 is a great option for a households and small offices that don't need to print documents in bulk but enjoy printing high-quality photos.

For

Sleek design

Color touchscreen display

Prints high-quality photos

Two-sided printing/copying

Prints custom CD/DVDs

Against

User's guide is online only

Lower dpi than comparable devices

Epson Expression Premium XP-820 "Small-in-One" All-in-One Printer ($199/£170/AU$219) is the top of the line in Epson's XP printer series that includes both the XP-520 and the XP-620. Its closest competitor is probably the Canon Pixma MG6220 Wireless Inkjet Photo All-in-One which also retails for $199 but lacks fax capabilities and an automatic document feeder, while the Kodak ESP C310 All-in-One Printer offers similar features at a lower price point ($99.99/£85/AU$110).

The 21.5 lb unit measures 17.2" x 23.5" x 8.1" (W x D x H). While this model is mainly of interest for its color photo printing capabilities, the Wi-Fi-enabled device also offers two-sided printing as well as copying, scanning, and color faxing with a one year limited warranty in the US and Canada. It's supported by the major operating systems including Windows 8 and Mac OS 10.10.

Out of the Box

The Epson XP-820 leaves a great first impression - it's an attractive device with a solid design and an intuitive color touchscreen. Set-up was quick and easy and the driver installation took just a few minutes. But in order to figure out how to use any of the features I had to go online to look up the comprehensive user's guide - the "quick guide" manual that comes with the printer is pretty basic and includes tips on loading paper and solving a paper jam, but frustratingly that's pretty much it.

Features on the Epson XP-820 include a 4.3" color touchscreen (the largest of the three Epson models in the series), auto document feeder, dedicated photo tray, and print speeds of 14.0 ISO ppm (black) and 11.0 ISO ppm (color). The input tray holds 100 sheets of paper while the dedicated photo tray holds 20 sheets of glossy photo paper, and the automatic document feeder handles 30 sheets at a time. The printer also supports most paper sizes as well as No. 10 envelopes. In addition to Wi-Fi the printer has a USB port, a memory card slot, a direct camera /phone port, and an Ethernet outlet to enhance connectivity.

Epson's XP-820 is also "Mopria-certified," (Mopria is a non-profit organization promoting the expansion of mobile printing) meaning it works with both Mopria's Print Service and the built-in printing framework in Android (included in v4.4 and up) allowing users to print anything regardless of the brand, device, or the operating system. Users also have access to Epson's iPrint mobile app (more on that later). Let's look at how the Epson XP-820 holds up as a device for printing color snapshots.